China conducted a six-day real-fire exercise the very day an unofficial US delegation started its visit to Taiwan.
The Chinese military held a 6-day live-fire drills starting April 15 in an area off the southwestern coast of Taiwan, just in time for an unofficial US delegation to visit Taiwan.
In a statement on April 14, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Civil Affairs said the Chinese military’s six-day drills took place in the south of Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait. China has also set up a restricted area for ships operating near the island of Taiwan during the time when the Chinese army conducted live-fire drills until April 20.
China has practiced six-day live fire drills in the southern Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait. (Photo: Xinhua News Agency)
Previously, former Senator Chris Dodd and two former Deputy Foreign Ministers Richard Armitage and James Steinberg set out to make a 3-day visit to Taiwan on April 13 at the request of US President Joe Biden.
In a statement, a White House official stressed that this is the “personal signal” of President Biden in securing commitments with Taiwan.
Taiwanese leader Thai Anh Van also plans to meet with the US delegation this morning (April 15).
China has long viewed Taiwan as a separatist province and repeatedly affirmed that Taiwan is “the most sensitive and important issue in the US-China relationship. Meanwhile, although Washington and Taipei have not established formal diplomatic relations, the US is currently the strongest supporter of Taiwan on the international arena and is also a major arms supplier to Taiwan. .
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait are also steadily increasing, after the United States and China have repeatedly taken military action in the region.
Mr. Kang Lin, a researcher at Hainan University, China, said that the 6-day live-fire drills were not conducted because of the US delegation’s visit to Taiwan. But the exercise area is close to the Dongsha archipelago north of the South China Sea, where Taiwan is in control and China also claims to have sovereignty in the area.
“The exercise clearly implies that China wants to assert sovereignty. The exercise also clearly showed Beijing’s warning to foreign forces not to interfere in the affairs of China and Taiwan, ”said Kang.
And military commentator Zhou Chenming said that the Chinese military regularly conducts exercises in the area during this time, because the weather conditions from July to September are not favorable.
“The exercise was planned in advance. Every year, China organizes many exercises in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait from April to June. But these events are increasingly publicized because China shoots real bullets, so notice must be made, ”said Zhou. to speak.
On April 12, China also dispatched an unprecedented number of military aircraft, including 25 fighters and bombers, into Taiwan’s air defense detection zone, according to the Taiwan Defense Agency.
On April 13, CCTV published a report on the PLAAF and PLAN conducting a 36-hour drill focusing on “reconnaissance and warning” training in the Taiwan Strait and East China Sea.
Tensions over sovereignty disputes over the Senkaku / Diaoyu archipelago in the East China Sea between Japan and China are also increasing.
The Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands are now under the control of Japan, but China has repeatedly affirmed the area is part of the national territory and regularly dispatched ships for surveillance.
Earlier in February, China also passed a new law that allowed its maritime forces to “take all necessary measures” including weapons to fight foreign organizations and individuals violating what the North Sutras called sovereignty and jurisdiction of the nation.
In response, members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) affirmed on February 25 after a meeting with Japanese government officials that the Japan Coast Guard could fire directly to entering foreign ships that intend to infiltrate near the Senkaku / Diaoyu archipelago in the East China Sea.
Currently, Tokyo is also tightening relations with the US in matters related to regional security. Specifically, on April 14, a US reconnaissance plane took off from Japan’s Okinawa island and flew over the East China Sea, according to the South China Sea Strategic Situation Initiative in Beijing. Earlier this month, China’s Liaoning carrier strike group also passed through the area between the islands of Okinawa and Miyako on its way to the Pacific.
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